The technology behind colored rapeseed

 

 

Since this year's spring season, the colorful rape flowers in Chengdu's Tianfu Expo Park attracted countless attention and went viral on social media. 

 

This batch of colored rape flower seeds came from Jiangxi Agricultural University. Breeding experts cultivated it through a "wide hybridization" technique, which, simply put, transferred the flower color of plants such as radish and cabbage to rapeseed.

 

(Photo by chengdu.cn)

 

In addition to ornamental value, colored rapeseed also has high scientific value. The change in the color of the colored rape flower is mainly due to the higher composition of anthocyanins in the petals. Anthocyanins have antioxidant effects (dark fruits are also rich in anthocyanins) and scientific research teams focus on developing derivative products of colored rape flowers, such as flower tea, flower wine, food, etc. 

 

 

Functional rice stabilizes blood sugar

 

 

After more than ten years of experiments, a new type of functional rice that can control blood sugar levels was developed and then tested by the West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

 

The GI value of the functional rice is far lower than that of ordinary rice, which means that the blood glucose response to eating functional rice is lower, making it suitable for diabetic patients and people with abnormal glucose tolerance. 

 

(Photo by chengdu.cn)

 

 

Tech-savvy farmers work smart

 

 

(Photo by Unsplash)

 

In 2020, Chinese authorities released a guideline on promoting digital technologies in rural areas, one initiative among many to modernize agriculture, liberate manpower and improve efficiency.

 

The guideline encouraged the use of big data, artificial intelligence, remote intelligent agricultural machinery, and agricultural drones in rural areas.

 

From the comfort of his own home, and with a few taps on his smartphone, Li Chunlai, who runs a farming cooperative in southwest China's Sichuan Province, can manage the temperature and humidity of cold storage full of Sichuan peppers.

 

The app has proved crucial to Li's business, especially when he had to make prompt inventory management decisions when pepper prices hit a volatile patch.

 

Soon after becoming a farmer in Dazhou eight years ago, Yang Qiang lost about 300,000 yuan after failing to sell his products due to a lack of experience and resources.

 

Tentatively, Yang posted a video online promoting his chickens. Surprisingly, the folksy video shot on a muddy village road drew an outpouring of support from viewers and helped him sell all his chickens and eggs.

 

Inspired by the initial success, Yang began to live-stream his life on the farm with his wife. Today, he almost entirely relies on e-commerce platforms to find customers.

 

  

Edited by Zhu Haiyue

Source: People's Daily, chengdu.cn